It should come as no surprise that Syria’s rebels were underwhelmed by Thursday’s U.S. pledge of $60 million in direct aid: although the announcement by Secretary of State John Kerry in Rome marked Washington’s first direct …

Late-Night Surprise – Israel’s Haaretzreports on the unexpected agreement early Tuesday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition Kadima Party chairman Shaul Mofaz to form a national unity government. The move …

Of the two big set-piece occasions taking place in the Palace of Westminster this week, the Queen’s March 20 address to both Houses of Parliament was always bound to outshine the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s unveiling the …

On March 11 priests at Britain’s 2,500 parish churches glided down the aisles as worshipers sang a welcome hymn. After taking their place at the altar, they made the sign of the cross, and greeted churchgoers in the name of the …

In her most recent TIME article, Rania Abouzeid explains why the chance of a nonviolent resolution to political conflict in Syria is increasingly unlikely: even as embattled President Bashar Assad holds nominal talks with minor opposition groups, tanks remain in the street and his troops continue to mow down unarmed protestors. In the …

Here are a few telling symptoms of Obamamania: shiny eyes; raised pulse rate; terminal hyperbole; an urge to trample others to gain physical proximity to the President of the United States, and to do so despite phalanxes of sharp-shooters braced to liquidate anyone who might pose a threat to him. During the Obamas’ state visit to the U.K., …

On May 5, Britons are invited to vote in a referendum about voting. They will decide whether to abandon the U.K.’s current first-past-the-post elections (FPTP) in favor of an Alternative Vote (AV) system, which isn’t really much different from FPTP except that voters rank candidates in order of preference, and as candidates are …

Yesterday’s ballot for the parliamentary seat of Barnsley Central resulted in abject defeat for Liberal Democrat candidate Dominic Carman, who came in sixth place, polling fewer votes than the far right British National Party (BNP). This wasn’t the first time the doughty anti-BNP campaigner Carman performed worse than the party he …